Media presentations typically include a video stream that may be a composite of various video sources. Currently, media presentations are produced using image processing operations that are performed in full frame steps. These full frame operations require the use of full frame buffers that each hold data for an entire frame of video. An image processing operation is typically executed by a processor that uses a cache to hold recently used data. Since access times for a cache are typically lower than access times for a conventional buffer (e.g., random access memory (RAM)), use of a cache reduces processing times.
Processing time, however, is increased whenever there is a cache overflow, i.e., the data produced by an operation can not be stored to the cache and thus the data must be stored to another memory resource, e.g., RAM. Processing time is also increased whenever there is a cache “miss,” i.e., the data required for an operation is not present in the cache and thus must be retrieved from another memory resource, e.g., RAM. In full frame operations, cache overflow and “misses” can be frequent if the cache can hold an amount of data that is less than the amount of data for a full frame of video. Thus, it is important to identify methods of processing media operations that reduces the number of cache overflows and “misses.”
Media presentations may also include a video and audio stream where each stream is produced by multiple operations. Conventionally, the operations for the video or audio streams are executed in an order determined an application producing the video or audio streams. The order of operations is typically executed without regard to reducing the processing time required by the order of operations. Thus, it is also important to identify methods of processing media operations that reduce the processing time of a series of operations.